*The official St. Lucia Brides CHAT thread*

[MrsWilliams1111]

Thanks JessM! Any and all reviews are greatly appreciated. I found a BDW user who had her wedding at The Almond Morgan Bay and posted fab pictures too, and wrote up a full review of her experience (For anyone interested in this resort, If I can figure out how to post the thread here, I will. If not search Almond Morgan Bay on BDW's serach engine and it should come up. I believe the Bride's name is Shivani!) . It was very helpful...and now me and my fiancee are booked! The guests have basic info on how to reserve via email, and I'm hoping to get the invitations out by mid to late February. I hope everyone's planning is going well!

 

BTW, MEve, I keep saying that I'm going to check out some of the Bridal shows in my area, but now I'm having second thoughts after reading about your experience, lol. Maybe I'll still go to one out of curiosity

[JessM]

Glad to hear you are all booked MrsWilliams1111 - I'm sure the resort will be great!

 

Thanks for the tips LilyRose - I have been checking out both websites for Anse Chastanet & Elope to Paradise often - both are very helpful.  We called the resort last week too and they were lovely and answered our many questions.  We are confirming our booking today - very excited!  Then it'll be time to focus on the wedding details...

 

Not sure where we'll do the reception yet - Anse Mamin looks really nice, thinking of doing the ceremony there since it's very private and a bit away from the resort.  I think we may wait until we get to the resort to decide though....sometimes it's hard to know just from pictures, you have to see it in person.

 

How many guests are you bringing for your wedding?

 

 

[LilyRose]

Congrats for your booking JessM!

 

To date, we are 16 including us. Anse Mamin seems to be the perfect place for a reception.  The resort told me that there is no time limit to party there since is a private area.  So you can dance till the morning hours!  I am not sure if I will do my reception there as I really want a plated dinner and they can only offer buffet at Anse Mamin.  I know it's strange, but I always dreamed of a seated dinner and it's hard for me to change my mind...Maybe I will, who knows!

 

The hardest challenge I have with my wedding is St-Lucia resorts (in general) price.  Many guests find it too expensive (I understand them) but since it's our wedding, I wanted this upscale location. Many guests are comparing the prices with an all-inclusive in Cuba or Mexico and this drained a lot of my energy. Wondering if it has happened to you too, St.Lucia brides.  A lot of guests says they would come (they knew it was St.Lucia) so we went ahead with bookings but later on, they RSVP no.  I should not complain because we are already 16, but many of our most important to us won't make it.  Anyway, sorry for the complain, I just feel a little bit sad about it and I have to remember myself why I have chosen St.Lucia in the first place (=intimate wedding!).

 

JessM, are you booking your guests directly with the resort?  My fiancé and I are booked directly with the resort but our guests are with our TA  and AC vacations.

 

 

 

 

 

[Monica Mai]

 Hello St. Lucia Brides!!

 

I have been MIA for awhile. . ..the worst thing possible happened to me. Hurricane Tomas hit St. Lucia the end of October and I was not able to get married in November at the Ladera Resort.  So my first word of advice to any of you ladies planning your wedding during Hurricane season, make sure you have travel insurance. We were so lucky to purchase it through our TA (the fiancee thought it was a waste of money) but we were so relieved to have it. The down side of it though is that due to the change in date alot of our guests couldn't make it any longer. My sis will be 8 months pregnant on the new wedding date and cannot fly to come to the wedding. Also, you have to rebook everything pretty much immediately or the hotels won't work with you.  Particularly Jalousie plantation-- we had to fight fight fight with them to honor our rates we initially booked. It seems the Jalousie was bought by another high end hotel group and their rates skyrocketed.  After much fighting, they agreed to honor our rates we had for our guests who knew right away they could come.  Unfortunately we had to wait until this year to find out if my new step-son could go since the wedding was  around his standardized tests at school, by the time we were able to book the only rooms left were over $1000 a night and then two days later while we trying to figure out what to do, the hotel completely sold out!!!  Jalousie did recommend another hotel, Stonefield Villas that give free shuttles to the beach at Jalousie so we are having to put my inlaws and stepson there. 

 

. .. Good news, we rebooked everything for April 16, 2011. We are spending 7 beautiful days at the Ladera (where the ceremony will be held) and 5 more nights at Jade Mountain!! We recommended all the guests to stay at Jalousie Plantation and we are having a pre-wedding caribbean buffet dinner there the Friday before the wedding.

 

I loved reading everyone's posts about their upcoming weddings!! 

 

Monica Mai

[wilsonj2]

I'm so sorry to hear your plans were cancelled, but I'm glad you were able to arrange everything again.  How complicated!  I know it will be beautiful...how lucky you are to have your wedding in such a pretty place and then stay at Jade Mountain!

 

Originally Posted by Monica Mai 

 Hello St. Lucia Brides!!

 

I have been MIA for awhile. . ..the worst thing possible happened to me. Hurricane Tomas hit St. Lucia the end of October and I was not able to get married in November at the Ladera Resort.  So my first word of advice to any of you ladies planning your wedding during Hurricane season, make sure you have travel insurance. We were so lucky to purchase it through our TA (the fiancee thought it was a waste of money) but we were so relieved to have it. The down side of it though is that due to the change in date alot of our guests couldn't make it any longer. My sis will be 8 months pregnant on the new wedding date and cannot fly to come to the wedding. Also, you have to rebook everything pretty much immediately or the hotels won't work with you.  Particularly Jalousie plantation-- we had to fight fight fight with them to honor our rates we initially booked. It seems the Jalousie was bought by another high end hotel group and their rates skyrocketed.  After much fighting, they agreed to honor our rates we had for our guests who knew right away they could come.  Unfortunately we had to wait until this year to find out if my new step-son could go since the wedding was  around his standardized tests at school, by the time we were able to book the only rooms left were over $1000 a night and then two days later while we trying to figure out what to do, the hotel completely sold out!!!  Jalousie did recommend another hotel, Stonefield Villas that give free shuttles to the beach at Jalousie so we are having to put my inlaws and stepson there. 

 

. .. Good news, we rebooked everything for April 16, 2011. We are spending 7 beautiful days at the Ladera (where the ceremony will be held) and 5 more nights at Jade Mountain!! We recommended all the guests to stay at Jalousie Plantation and we are having a pre-wedding caribbean buffet dinner there the Friday before the wedding.

 

I loved reading everyone's posts about their upcoming weddings!! 

 

Monica Mai

[wilsonj2]

LilyRose, I know what you mean!  I chose Sandals because of the three resort options (other two are much cheaper than the Grande, where we are getting married).  Many people told me they would go, and now that it is time to book, they are saying it's too much money.  I understand it's a lot, but I wish they had never said they would go....got my hopes up.  Oh well, at least our families will be there.  I just am now thinking I could have chosen a resort like Anse Chast or Jalousie, since I was creating cheaper options for guests who decided they will not come after all.

 

On a side note, St. Lucia is sooooo expensive compared to other islands, especially flights!  I really thought they would go down this month, but we had to go ahead and book, as there is only one flight per airline each day.  That is something to consider for future brides trying to decide. 

 

I know it will be breathtaking though, and I can't wait!
 

Originally Posted by LilyRose 

Congrats for your booking JessM!

 

To date, we are 16 including us. Anse Mamin seems to be the perfect place for a reception.  The resort told me that there is no time limit to party there since is a private area.  So you can dance till the morning hours!  I am not sure if I will do my reception there as I really want a plated dinner and they can only offer buffet at Anse Mamin.  I know it's strange, but I always dreamed of a seated dinner and it's hard for me to change my mind...Maybe I will, who knows!

 

The hardest challenge I have with my wedding is St-Lucia resorts (in general) price.  Many guests find it too expensive (I understand them) but since it's our wedding, I wanted this upscale location. Many guests are comparing the prices with an all-inclusive in Cuba or Mexico and this drained a lot of my energy. Wondering if it has happened to you too, St.Lucia brides.  A lot of guests says they would come (they knew it was St.Lucia) so we went ahead with bookings but later on, they RSVP no.  I should not complain because we are already 16, but many of our most important to us won't make it.  Anyway, sorry for the complain, I just feel a little bit sad about it and I have to remember myself why I have chosen St.Lucia in the first place (=intimate wedding!).

 

JessM, are you booking your guests directly with the resort?  My fiancé and I are booked directly with the resort but our guests are with our TA  and AC vacations.

 

 

 

 

 

[LilyRose]

Thank you so much Wilsonj2 !

 

I appreciate your feedback regarding the booking stress.  You are right, we choose something to accomodate our guests but they do not come.  I am getting married in July because a lot of my friends are teachers or still at University but none of those are coming. I guess we have to choose for ourselves and not think too much about our guests because even if they say yes in the first place, they may change their mind. A good advice to new brides planning their wedding!

 

And you are right...at the end, we will be rewarded by an awesome and exotic destination. St. Lucia is the prettiest Caribean Island. And we will enjoy every minute of it!

 

[Monica Mai]

Thanks Wilsonj2 for the support!

 

I understand exactly how you feel about trying to accomodate everyone else and then they decide not to come!! I know it can be disappointing, but keep focused your wedding day is about you and your soon to be husband-- plan everything around you two because it's the one day where it can be only about you two!!  We rescheduled the new wedding date to April since it was my sister's spring break but then she told me (after we already changed the date so she could come) that she was pregnant and wouldn't even be able to make it to the wedding because she'll be too far along in pregnancy! 

 

I also am experiencing the HIGH costs of St. Lucia-- everything is sooo expensive!!  We booked through a TA for the travel insurance, which definitely came in handy.. . but I've been looking at special offers our hotels offer now and feel like we kinda got ripped off a bit.  I personally feel as if I had a crappy TA because I pretty much did all the research and work about the trip. . .for any brides thinking about booking through a TA my advice is to research research research prices and make sure they price match what you find if the rates you find are lower online.  I though a TA would automatically have the best and cheapest rates, which was not always the case.  If we weren't having to pay out of pocket so may guests including us we definitely wouldn't have used the TA and just bought travel insurance from a company.

 

What are you guys using for your wedding favors?  If you are looking for any beach totes I bought some boat totes from LL Bean and will have St.Lucia embroidered on it and our wedding date. Looking at the prices for beach totes on knot.com and other wedding sites, LL Bean was just about the same price--so I went with them since I know they have excellent quality. I also bought some starfish favors at www.shorechic.com.  That site is FABULOUS if you are looking for some beach favors/pieces for the wedding.  I was very happy with their service, quality, and time it took to reach me.  I have one of the starfish on my desk at work and everytime someone walks by I get compliments on it.  I also bought raffia fans to put on the chairs for each guest at the actual ceremony. I bought those super cheap from oriental trading. . . no complaints except they are definitely not all the same size-- which wasn't a prob for me since we do not have that many guests coming. . .but believe me they range from xsmall to small to medium to large, but for the price definitely worth it.  .. .Dont know how I'm going to get all that stuff there ....

 

Good Luck to you all.

 

Monica

 

[amanda2286]

Hello everyone, I just booked my wedding for June 7, 2012 at Windjammer Landing. I'm so excited I can't wait but I'm sure the time will go by fast. I was just wondering if anyone else is getting married or has gotten married at Windjammer?

[Julee]

I've found some great and creative wedding favours here.http://www.creativeweddingfavors.com/